Tag: GOP doesn’t want financial relief for Americans

Unemployment debate sparks GOP divisions

The Hill logoA looming floor fight over unemployment insurance is putting a spotlight on GOP divisions about how to replace the $600 per week federal benefit.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is set to bring the debate to a head this week, with Republican leaders saying they are eager to hold votes that will make Democrats go on the record as bipartisan talks on a broader coronavirus package remain stalled.

But the floor votes could also highlight differences among the 53 Senate Republicans, who have struggled to agree on what to do about the federal benefit that expired last week. Continue reading.

GOP sounds alarm bell over coronavirus-fueled debt

The Hill logoRepublicans are growing increasingly anxious about the meteoric rise in the country’s debt amid unprecedented levels of federal spending aimed at softening the economic impact of the coronavirus.

Congress has passed several relief bills in the last seven weeks that total nearly $2.8 trillion — roughly the combined total of the fiscal 2019 and 2020 discretionary spending for the entire government.

The mammoth spending comes as the coronavirus’s effect on the country has been severe: 22 million unemployment claims in the past month, a rocky market that has plummeted from record highs and nearly a million confirmed cases and more than 46,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Continue reading.